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Development
- Main article: Wukong (Development)
- Wukong is voiced by Spike Spencer.
Kled is also voiced by the same voice actor.- Wukong's Japanese voice actor is Masako Nozawa[1], alluding to her having voiced the version of Sun Wukong/Son Gokuu from the Dragon Ball franchise ever since.
- League of Legends' Wukong is the second MOBA-genre-incarnation of the Monkey King to share a voice actor in any language alluding to his alternate version from the Dragon Ball franchise, with the SMITE version of Sun Wukong having the same English voice actor instead (Sean Schemmel).
- During development he was called MonkeyKing which then turned into his title "The Monkey King".
- This is reflected in his internal champion name being MonkeyKing as well.
- Wukong is the first champion to have an animated Gameplay Preview.
- The internal name for Wukong's ultimate Cyclone is "MonkeyKingSpinToWin", a reference to the popular community description for Garen's Judgment.
- The buff that allows Wukong to recast Cyclone is named "Spinning is Winning".
Universe
Universe- Main article: Wukong (Character)
- Wukong belongs to the Vastaya race and tribe known as the Shimon. They are the Vastaya inhabitants of Ionia, in its jungle regions.
- As an adult Vastaya, he is over a few hundred years old.[2]
- Wukong's mystical staff was crafted by the legendary blacksmith Master Doran of Ionia.
- The name Wù[3]kōng[4] (悟空, pronounced [wu:˥˩kʰʊ̃ŋ˥]; official Riot's: woo-kohng) is a common Buddhist name that means "awakening to emptiness" in Chinese, after Sun Wukong, the protagonist of the Chinese novel Journey to the West. Wukong is also one of the few champions to be based on a public domain character from real-world mythology and literature in general.
- In Journey to the West, this Buddhist name was bestowed to the nameless Monkey King by his first master Subhuti.
- Wukong's passive, Stone Skin, is possibly a reference to Sun Wukong being born from a stone. He's also said to be born from the earth itself.
- Wukong's original lore is also a nod to Sun Wukong's origin (a stone turned into a monkey, had his own adventures before meeting and later following his Master).
- In-universe, Master Yi himself adds the element Wu to Kong's name, in recognition that Kong was among his best students.
- The fact that Wukong was trained under Master Yi is also another possible reference to Sun Wukong's original master, Subhuti, or Wukong's more famous master during his pilgrimage to the West, the historical Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang, who contributed greatly to the translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese, thus earning the byname Tripitaka त्रिपिटक (Mandarin: 三藏 Sānzàng), after the Pali canon.
- In-universe,
- In his updated background, Wukong's Vastayan tribe turns into stone after death.
- Wukong's original lore is also a nod to Sun Wukong's origin (a stone turned into a monkey, had his own adventures before meeting and later following his Master).
- Wukong's abilities, Nimbus Strike and Warrior Trickster, are references to Sun Wukong's ability to ride on clouds via his "Somersault Cloud" (筋斗雲, Jīndǒuyún) technique and to create clones of himself using strands of his hair, respectively.
- Wukong also likes peaches; likewise the original Sun Wukong himself also ate all ripe peaches in the Heavenly Peach Garden at one point in the original novel, greatly increasing his longevity.
- In Japanese server, Wukong is rendered as "ウーコン" (Ūkon [ɯ̟:ᵝkõ̞ɴ]; Oo-kohn) via the pinyin reading of the name instead of on'yomi (which would be rendered as "Gokuu" instead). Due to also being voiced by Masako Nozawa as aforementioned, the voice actress of the character of the same name in the Dragon Ball franchise, this acts an overall actor allusion to the Dragon Ball Wukong/Gokuu's source inspiration.
- In the Chinese servers, Wukong is directly referred to as Sun Wukong himself in the flesh as opposed to being a different character loosely based on him.
League of Legends
League of LegendsGameplay
- Main article: Wukong (League of Legends)
- Wukong is based on Sun Wukong from the Chinese novel Journey to the West.
- Coincidentally, much of Garen's kit was a possible basis for Wukong, mainly due to both characters having:
- A "Q" ability that originally stated its scaling to be over 100% in attack damage as an auto-attack booster and reset with an extra effect ( Decisive Strike silences with a movement speed boost while Wukong's Crushing Blow reduces armor by a percentage), and applies on-hit effects as well.
- A passive ability that increases their defensive stats (with Garen's being a normal ability with not only percentage defensive boosts, but also with a damage reduction active while Wukong's only being a standard passive with flat defense/HP boosts).
- Point-and-click spells; Garen's can only target one champion with it and acts as his ultimate; Wukong's can hit two extra targets in range, moves him to said target(s) and acts as a normal ability. Both versions at some point have interacted with magic damage ( Garen's Demacian Justice originally inflicted bonus magic damage while Wukong's Nimbus Strike now scales with magic damage and ability power as of his gameplay update).
- Cyclone and Judgment involve a very similar spinning animation and near-identical mechanics in the way their hits are racked up, how they provide bonus movement speed during cast time, and cancellation. A number of certain item actives and summoner spells can even be used during their cast times, though depending on the champion there are exclusive item actives only available to them during such abilities, as Wukong before his update could not activate Tiamat's / Ravenous Hydra's active during Cyclone. Cyclone also cannot critically strike, unlike Judgment.
- Likewise, both their ultimates ( Demacian Justice and Cyclone) have HP-based-damage-scaling against their targets.
- Likewise, both their ultimates (
- A "Q" ability that originally stated its scaling to be over 100% in attack damage as an auto-attack booster and reset with an extra effect (
- The name of Cyclone on the Chinese Servers, 大鬧天宮 (trad.) 大闹天宫 (simpl.) (Dànào Tiāngōng, lit. Greatly Wrecking the Heavenly Palace) references the Monkey King's rebellion against the Jade Emperor & other heavenly government's officials, until Buddha sealed him the Five Finger Mountain (Wǔzhǐshān, 五指山) for five centuries, before embarking on his westward journey to redeem himself.[5]
- Other MOBA's than League of Legends (such as Heroes of Newerth[6], Smite[7], and Dota 2[8]) also feature a character based on Sun Wukong. These expies of the Monkey King (including Smite's pre-worked Sun Wukong) have similar abilities and playstyles (mainly being damaging tanks with assassin potential, and having very unique tricks with their abilities).
- Wukong is one of a few champions to have multiple textures in one skin. When he uses Warrior Trickster, his clone will be of a different colour palette which can only be seen by Wukong and his allies. To the opposing team, the two Wukongs look exactly the same, including copies of any external buffs and item effects active at the moment the clone is spawned (Prior to patch V5.22, clones did not duplicate external buff/active item effect particles).
- Four other champions with this feature are LeBlanc (via Mirror Image), Shaco's (via Hallucinate), Nasus (via Fury of the Sands) and Malphite (via Granite Shield and Thunderclap).
- Four other champions with this feature are
- Wukong's critical strike animation is a possible nod to a famous pole-vaulting kick used by many incarnations of the original Sun Wukong, especially in the TV drama adaptations of Journey to the West, and his Warriors Orochi / Musou Orochi incarnation as well.
- When a Wukong Bot uses Warrior Trickster, the decoy is named "MonkeyKing Bot".
- Wukong is the only champion with two Lunar Revel skins.
- Before his gameplay update, Cyclone was originally tied as one of the highest AD ratio abilities in the game.
Quotes
- Main article: Wukong (League of Legends Audio)
- His quote ▶️ "Show me the path" is his response to Master Yi's (his teacher) ▶️ "I will show you the path".
- His quote ▶️
- His joke references the original Sun Wukong's staff, the Rúyì Jīngū Bàng (如意金箍棒, lit. As-Willed Gold-Rimmed Pole). It represents its actual functions in the original novel, such as allowing for reaching and attacking the target from afar, as well as shifting into all sorts of shapes and sizes. Other novel adaptations of the staff either present it as being able to change into other objects, or — as akin to League of Legends' Doran's staff — can act on free will.
- Sun Wukong's staff itself weighs 13,500 jin, (roughly 8,100 kg or 17,800 lbs), and is made of "divinely rare iron" (神珍鐵 Shénzhēntiě), or "crow iron" in some translations (another name for black iron).
- Regardless, Wukong's Doran-made staff actually does extend offensively during the effects of Crushing Blow and Cyclone.
Skins
- Main article: Wukong (Collection)
- The old Chinese splash art features several elements from the original Sun Wukong's tale.
- The water dragon (which is also featured in the Jade Dragon's artwork) may be a reference to the exiled Dragon prince who swallowed Sanzang's mount in the Journey to the West, causing Wukong to fight against it. Said Dragon prince in some adaptations of the original novel would actually become a group member with Wukong as Sanzang's substitute mount.
- The glowing crescent moon on Wukong's forehead references the original hooplet the original Sun Wukong wore.
- This skin shares the Infernal theme with:
- It may be a reference to Journey to the West's aforementioned prequel story, when Sun Wukong was locked in a cauldron by the Taoist Lao Tzu AKA Taishang Laojun (on behalf of the Jade Emperor to assist in executing him as no options were left) to be distilled by severe, sacred fires for 40–50 days straight to be turned into an elixir. But when Lao Tzu opened the lid, Wukong was alive and stronger than ever with a newfound ability Jīnjīng Huǒyǎn (金睛火眼, lit. Gold Pupil Fire Eyes) which enabled him to see evil (but gave him a weakness to smoke).
- With this in mind, Wukong's weapon via this skin is instead a broken, molten pillar, a possible piece of the remains from the said confinement.
- The skin may also be a reference to a character/Pokémon from the Pokémon series, Infernape (Japanese original: ゴウカザル; Goukazaru), who was said to be based on Sun Wukong as well.
- It also coincidentally parallels the Rajang of the Monster Hunter series, as not only does the Rajang bear reference to the Saiyans of Dragon Ball lore (via the other Wukong/Gokuu from that series), the more stronger variations of the species tend to reside in volcanic areas.
- in the Philippine server, Volcanic Wukong's price is reduced to 1 RP in order to raise awareness about the recent Taal Volcano eruption, a volcano in the Philippines
- This skin shares the Legacy theme with:
- This skin also plays nod to some traditional armor Sun Wukong wore during the aforementioned prequel tale, due to having a more notable war-motif throughout most of the story with him fighting against the heavens. It also nods to the more famous title of Wukong as well, the Qitian Dasheng (齊天大聖, lit. Equaling-Heaven Great-Sage).
- The many meteors raining down in the splash art may be a reference to the birthplace of Wukong, known as Huaguoshan (花果山, lit. Flower Fruit Mountain), which was under attack during said tale.
- Wukong's famous headband/coronet from Journey to the West appears about his forehead in this splash art, along with Wukong's other skins, save for his Volcanic skin and his Classic skin. The name of this coronet is the Jingu'er (緊箍児, lit. Tightening Hooplet).
- The shape of the coronet on General Wukong's head resembles the "coronets" worn by two of Wukong's original companions, Zhu Bajie (豬八戒, lit. Pig of Eight Precepts, and Sha Wujing (沙悟凈, lit. Sand [man] Awakened to Purity).
- The very first version of his splash art had a symbol resembling the logo from Quake on his forehead before it was edited to reduce the resemblance.
- The skin's bio first debut in Wild Rift. It is a reference to Journey to the West.
- Jade Dragon Wukong Chromas: Meteorite
Chromas:- This skin shares the Lunar Revel theme with:
- He was released in celebration of Lunar Revel 2012 (Year of the Dragon) along with:
- He wears Chinese jade, which is commonly carved in the form of a dragon.
- Carved-jade objects is regarded to being intrinsically valuable. They are metaphorically equated with human virtues because of their hardness, durability, and (moral) beauty.
- In this skin, Wukong possesses a coronet that is more classically styled akin to the one worn by the original Sun Wukong.
- This skin shares the Death Sworn theme with:
- He was released in celebration of Harrowing 2014 along with:
- Ravenborn LeBlanc
- Reaper Soraka, while fitting the Harrowing theme and was released in 2014, was released after Harrowing 2014.
- He resembles a typical Shadow Isles champion in appearance.
- This skin shares coincidental ties to the original Sun Wukong once more, who in the original Journey to the West novel was once sentenced to natural death via his name being written in the Book of Death during his prequel chapter. Wukong soon erased his own name, granting him immortality from natural death.
- This skin shares the Lunar Revel theme with:
- He was released in celebration of Lunar Revel 2016 (Year of the Monkey) along with:
- His smoke clouds were inspired by traditional Chinese and Japanese artworks.
- This skin was not made a Legacy skin as opposed to the other 2016 Lunar Revel skins due to his previously released skin, Underworld Wukong, being a Legacy skin.[9]
- The skin is also a possible nod to the original Wukong's armor during his prequel tale as aforementioned with his General Wukong skin, due to including the pheasant feather-tail crown as seen in some portrayals of the said armor.
- Wukong also wears an orange, sleeveless martial arts outfit with a blue belt, while also having bright-spiky hair/fur. This makes Wukong resemble the Super Saiyan transformation from the Dragon Ball franchise, which was seen achieved first by the Sun Wukong/Son Gokuu of that series, as well as his iconic orange, blue-banded Turtle School gi.
- The only few differences this skin has with his other skins is one extra new quote, and a high movement speed animation.
- This skin shares the Lancer theme with:
- His color scheme closely resembles the Victorious and Warden skins.
- This skin references the Lancelot Conquista Knightmare Frame from the Code Geass series.
- Battle Academia Wukong Chromas: Catseye, Emerald, Meteorite, Obsidian, Pearl, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire
- This skin shares the Battle Academia theme with:
- This is the first skin depicting him as a human.
- Elderwood Wukong Chromas: Amethyst, Aquamarine, Citrine, Emerald, Pearl, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Turquoise
- This skin shares the Elderwood theme with:
References
- ↑ Almost all Japanese League of Legends voice actors
- ↑ Wukong's years old
- ↑ Schuessler A. ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese (2007), p. 520-1
- ↑ http://stedt.berkeley.edu/~stedt-cgi/rootcanal.pl/etymon/820
- ↑ Wukong: Journey to the West
- ↑ HoN Sun Wukong
- ↑ SMITE Sun Wukong
- ↑ DotA2 Monkey King
- ↑ Radiant Wukong nota Legacy skin